IRAQ: SADDAM HUSSEIN MARKS 5TH ANNIVERSARY OF GULF WAR

Описание: (17 Jan 1996) Arabic/Nat

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has marked the fifth anniversary of the start of the Gulf War by addressing his nation on TV.

He told the Iraqi people that the coalition forces had failed to achieve their target in the war - the destruction of Iraq.

It's five years since Operation Desert Storm launched a coalition of western and Arab forces to drive Iraq out of Kuwait.

In the streets of Baghdad, the are still reminders of the war.

Saddam Hussein has gone on television to claim he defeated the objectives of the U-S and its Gulf War allies.

SOUNDBITE: (in Arabic)

"And the Iraqis with the help of God could avoid giving the enemies the opportunity to overpower our nation by using their extra elements of power at this stage. And by destroying the model existing and until now God could prevent all these elements which could harm the Arab nation and weaken it and its role.
SUPER CAPTION: Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq

The Gulf War shattered lives and politics in the Middle East.

The shock waves it set off have helped realign the Arab world, and move much of the region toward peace.

But Iraq's leadership has never changed: Saddam Hussein remains
firmly in power.

SOUNDBITE: (in Arabic)

"During the mother of battles (the Gulf War) and what followed with a painful and unjustifiable siege Iraq the lion was overwhelmed by injuries in its various battlefields and therefor its enemies (the birds of pray and the wolves) a rounded close or far, thought Iraq the believer and the struggler is about to fall.
SUPER CAPTION: Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq

Economic sanctions have weakened Iraq's economic situation - but Saddam's position appears as secure as ever.

But the anniversary has revived debate on whether the trade embargo on Iraq should be eased.

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